​The state of sports betting in the United States is a bleak one, as mobile sports bettors are prohibited from placing bets with most online sportsbooks. This is what has made the fantasy sports industry so well liked in the US. Classified as a game of skill rather than as gambling, daily fantasy sports contests such as the ones held by DraftKings and FanDuel are deemed legal in the United States and serve as a legal form of sports betting.

In this version of fantasy sports, contests aren't held over the course of a full season like they are in your office fantasy football league, but are instead contested over periods of one week or shorter depending on the sport. With faster turnaround times, players can get involved in more contests per season, giving them the chance to receive more frequent and, due to the large number of entrants in each contest, potentially lucrative payouts.​